There have been few rock bands who after a stunning first album have maintained such an exemplary level of excellence. Some have grown into their achievements over the course of two or three releases, others unable to sustain the stand out brilliance they attained on breaking through.
If there is an obvious exception to these general summations it occurs in the accomplishments of Steely Dan – who followed their dazzling 1972 debut ‘CAN’T BUY A THRILL‘ with a succession of stylish, innovative albums through the remainder of the decade, each containing any number of striking songs that set cynical, often cryptic lyrics, to jazz-infused melodies. While setting a very high bar, the record that begins their story proved the perfect introduction to this remarkable sequence of recordings.
Comprising at source of songwriting New Yorkers Donald Fagen (keyboards, b.10/1/48) and bassist Walter Becker (b. 20/2/50), Steely Dan were more a concept than group in the recognised sense, a veritable array of satellite musicians revolving around the duo found at the core.
First crossing paths in 1967 when both attended Bard College in Upstate New York, their formative efforts at making headway involved writing the score for a low-budget Zalmon King film with the snappy title ‘You’ve Got To Walk Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose Beat‘ and forming a band with neighbourhood friend, guitarist Denny Dias.
Neither of these endeavours, however, resulted in tangible reward, so for two years between 1969 and 1971 Fagen and Becker became gigging musicians, primarily as sidemen for ’60s hitmakers Jay and the Americans.
During this period they came to the notice of Gary Katz, this crucial intervention leading them to be signed as songwriters for ABC/Dunhill Records, where he was a staff producer. Katz, in spotting their abundant potential, soon began exploring the possibilities of showcasing the material Becker and Fagen had begun to amass.
Offering the probability of a recording contract should they relocate to Los Angeles, in the spring of 1972 the duo headed west where Katz, taking charge of production, (as he would on each of their subsequent albums), booked recording time at Village Sound Studios. An invitation to participate in the sessions was extended to Dias who duly accepted, taking his place in the first incarnation of a troupe christened Steely Dan – the recruitment of fellow guitarist Jeff Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and vocalist David Palmer (Fagen initially doubting his voice had the range to make a convincing singer), extending the line-up to six.
Such was the painstaking approach Becker and Fagen took to creating tracks, the process of cutting enough to comprise an album ran for six months, their living expenses covered at this time through royalties earned from Barbra Streisand having recently covered ‘I Mean to Shine‘, a song they had written the previous year. Work on their record that began in March 1972 was not completed until September, although even then the main creators later reflected that at least one cut sounded rushed.
But to just about everyone else, the sound of ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill‘ amounted to some of the most erudite and imaginative rock music the medium had so far produced.
The sense of something different afoot is immediately evident in the Latin-influenced percussion and hypnotic keyboard patterns which announce arrival of opening track ‘Do It Again.’ The feeling of complete originality is further enhanced when Fagen begins delivering a fascinating, on occasion vague lyric, whose themes through the verses are violence, sex and money, (and consequences of repeating the same mistakes where each are concerned). Such subject matter was not often found within rock songs of the early 70s – especially within the same composition.
The smokey jazz inflections of the melody, infused by the electric sitar of Dias and striking guitar work from Baxter, whose busy playing gives the impression of being at odds with the other musicians, conjure a mysterious ambience. This notion of little being what it seems is borne out in the final verse – a shadowy depiction of a fool and his cash being easily parted:
‘Now you swear and kick and beg us/That you’re not a gamblin’ man/Then you find you’re back in Vegas/With a handle in your hand/Your black cards can make you money/So you hide them when you’re able/In the land of milk and honey/You must put them on the table.’
No matter how lyrically abstract they could be in penning verses, Fagen (responsible give or take for the lyrics) and Becker (melodies and arrangements his department), this song already reveals a catchy chorus was also within their capabilities – the emphatic hook running through ‘Do It Again‘ providing the impetus for an edited version to reach number six on the U.S. singles chart in February 1973.
From the opening electric piano chords, ‘Dirty Work‘ is instantly engaging, the sultry saxophone refrain, (played with great aplomb by Jerome Richardson), adding to a luscious ambience almost at odds with observations from the narrator on his ongoing affair with a married woman.
Taking the role of primary singer Palmer delivers a soulful vocal with support from rich harmonies, his clear phrasing conveying the regret attached to their clandestine liaison:
‘Times are hard/You’re afraid to pay the fee/So you find yourself somebody/Who can do the job for free/When you need a bit of lovin’/Cause your man is out of town/That’s the time you get me runnin’/
And you know I’ll be around.’
Behind Palmer is a polished performance, the vibrancy of the playing contrasting to the self-loathing of the protagonist who acknowledges his wrong doing with foreboding thoughts, ‘I foresee terrible trouble/And I stay here just the same.’
In ‘Kings‘ an upbeat piece built upon Chicago blues piano stylings and crisp guitar lines from guest player Elliott Randall (who makes a no less notable appearance later on the record), the drama has already unfolded – the song evoking the long ago reigns of English kings Richard and John.
‘We’ve seen the last of good King Richard/Ring out the past, his name lives on and on/Roll out the bones/And raise up the pitchers/Raise up your glass to good King John.’
At face value the lyrics conjure a time when King Richard, away on the crusades, (‘While he plundered far and wide/All his starving children cried‘), left younger brother John at home on the throne, but even at this early stage Fagen is wrapping his imagery in ambiguity. On the inner sleeve ‘Kings‘ comes with the printed caveat of ‘No Political Significance,’ suggesting it stands merely as comment on far distant times – rather than allegory of current U.S. president (Richard) Nixon and deceased, former White House incumbent (John) Kennedy.
More straightforward in evocation is ‘Midnite Cruiser‘, drummer Hodder featured on lead vocals through a breezy, uplifting track, that has sombre reflection immersed within the pop sensibilities.
Steered by sprightly piano, bold guitar work and propulsive percussion, the notion that opportunities have been missed and days having passed since the world was an oyster, expressed with hard-earned wisdom in the second verse:
‘The world that we used to know/People tell me it don’t turn no more/The places we used to go/Familiar faces that ain’t smiling like before/The time of our time has come and gone/I fear we’ve been waitin’ too long.’
Side one closer ‘Only a Fool Would Say That‘ is another to have implicit intent encased within a cheery groove. Boasting great interchanging vocals from Fagen and Palmer on top of pristine guitar work, it is safe to assume the target of their sardonic derision is John Lennon, or to be precise his 1971 words and music appeal for peace and selflessness across mankind.
Fagen does not appear to have an issue with the sentiments, only the practicalities of human beings living as one, ‘I heard it was you/Talkin’ ’bout a world where all is free/It just couldn’t be/And only a fool would say that.’
The inference becomes more pronounced when the title of Lennon’s utopian manifesto is thrown into the mix, no sarcasm spared when suggesting John change places with someone among the people, ‘Imagine your face there is his place‘ – but even then the case continues to be made for a downtrodden populous to ignore the affectations, however well intended, of a wealthy rock star:
‘You do his nine to five/Drag yourself home half alive/And there on the screen/A man with a dream.’
Sequenced to start side two, things make a flying start with the simply majestic ‘Reelin’ in the Years.’
From taking a jaundiced view of Lennon urging the greater good from his position of privilege, the focus of some rueful barbs is a woman who has taken her affections elsewhere. Right from the off it resonates with superb chemistry between the players, the track never less than infectious through an arrangement both subtle and water tight. The supporting guitar work for Baxter and Dias is immaculate in itself before Randall carries the day with a solo Jimmy Page no less, has named his all-time favourite.
Such is the creativity and sheer exuberance, it goes very close to the limits of possibility within a near five minute rock song, vocalist Fagen sounding full of self-righteous glee in presenting his disdain. He is at a loss to explain why she has sought romantic attachment elsewhere (‘Well, you wouldn’t even know a diamond if you held it in your hand/The things you think are precious I can’t understand‘), this long before the final verse when regret turns to resentment:
‘I’ve spent a lot of money and I’ve spent a lot of time/The trip we made to Hollywood is etched upon my mind/After all the things we’ve done and seen you find another man/The things you think are useless I can’t understand/Are you reelin’ in the years?/Stowin’ away the time/Are you gatherin’ up the tears?/Have you had enough of mine.’
For a track of breathtaking high quality it surprisingly failed to dent the U.K. top 30, although the Stateside record buying public were certainly enamoured, ‘Reelin’ in the Years‘ climbing to Number 11 on the Billboard charts in May 1973.
‘Fire in the Hole‘ is not quite so easy to define, strident piano chords providing the framework for a track that while hard to pin down is no less effective for its avoidance of absolute clarity.
At the outset we are presented with a character who appears to lack any degree of self-identity (‘Am I myself or just another freak?’), the soul searching intense and somewhat speculative in reaching a point where ‘My life is boiling over/It’s happened once before/I wish someone would open up the door‘, the isolation being felt manifesting in the expressive steel guitar playing of Baxter.
Palmer resumes vocal duties for the serene ‘Brooklyn‘ (Owes the Charmer Under Me), the gorgeous piano-based melody foundation of another song not without lyrical abstractions.
In the first instance the words seemingly relate to a downstairs neighbour in Brooklyn, Fagen using understatement in chastising his boorish attitude to life, the man feeling he is entitled to, ‘A dish of dollars laid out for all to see/A tower room at Eden Rock/His golf at noon for free.’
There is a wife not spared a withering rebuke, ‘His lady’s aching to bring a body down/She daily preaches on where she wants to be’, and while a number of couplets are hard to fathom, Baxter again excels on pedal steel. The background harmonies of renowned session singers Clydie King, Venetta Fields and Shirlie Matthews offer joyous decoration, just as they had done earlier on ‘Kings‘.
Having served notice they were supremely adept at crafting rock with jazz chops, Becker and Fagen were no less capable of creating the most sumptuous pop – their credentials underlined by the radiant ‘Changing of the Guard.’
Striking the pose of two (elder) hippies attempting to reconcile their late-60s counter-culture politics with different ideals in the early-70s, there is acceptance things have moved on – and not entirely for the worst:
‘All the signs are right this time/You don’t have to try so very hard/If you live in this world/You’re feelin’ the change of the guard.’
Had they remained jobbing songwriters the duo would have had little problem finding takers for this insatiably catchy composition, its appeal not lost on the likes of Peter Frampton who spent most of the decade trying to rewrite it. Steely Dan, however, would remain the definitive merchants in this field, the track also resplendent for soaring harmonies and the sparkling guitar breaks of Baxter.
When they later came to rue how one or two of their debut album cuts sounded put down in haste, closing number ‘Turn That Heartbeat Over Again‘ is likely to have been a candidate.
The standard of composition is unquestionably high, the lyric dealing in broad terms with the actions of a robbery committed on impulse by a desperate man, (‘With stocking face, I bought a gun/The plan was set/The plan was done’), and the consequences of taking such rash decisions – the perpetrator asking for forgiveness after previously living a wholesome life:
‘Oh, Michael/Oh, Jesus/You know I’m not to blame/You know my reputation for playin’ a good clean game.‘
Katz records the band displaying their customary poise with the combined guitar bursts from Baxter and Dias again to be marveled at. But the structure of the piece appears hesitant or, indeed hurried, almost as if there are two songs under construct here and neither was quite finished – joining the separate entities together seen as the best option. Which of course may not be true, although musical progressions included on this track could be detected on later, superior Steely Dan songs, so there is case for the means justifying the end.
Through the 41-minute running time of the record, Becker, Fagen and their cohorts showed they could take a strand from any number of styles and realign them into something fresh and authentic. The acoustic guitar and piano elements offer a link to the singer-songwriter brigade, the harmonies reminiscent of West Coast soft-rock and tracks such as ‘Reelin’ in the Years‘ revealed they could be a dynamic power-pop ensemble.
Yet all these genres were reconfigured into a package that was highly original and while the melodies often reflected the jazz partialities of the writers, the wry, lyrical cynicism of these inscrutable New Yorkers was nearer in context to a Woody Allen film than the songs of Paul Simon.
On release ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill‘ met with a positive response, Rolling Stone taking the view (it was) ‘Distinguished by three top-level cuts and scattered moments of inspiration’ while noted rock scribe Robert Christgau weighed in with, ‘A great single with a good album attached‘, although was still moved to bestow a top mark on his revered A-D system – most reviewers impressed that a debut effort could sound so assured.
Buoyed by the success of ‘Do It Again‘ and ‘Reelin’ in the Years‘ when issued as singles, it eventually climbed to 17 on the U.S. album charts and despite the absence of a concerted promotional campaign eventually peaked at 38 on U.K. listings.
All of which occurred to the bemusement of Becker, who five years later revealed, ‘We were amazed ABC even agreed to finance the record and had zero expectations for it. So just getting to make ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ was a dream come true.‘
Indeed, if the words had capacity to be oblique, deciphering some of the more obscure lines akin to cracking a cryptic crossword, things were no less obtuse when it came to the album cover (were the line of prostitutes in some way equated to the title?) and with the name the group had chosen for themselves.
Was it, as often claimed, reference to the futuristic sex toy mentioned in the William Burroughs sci-fi, horror novel ‘The Naked Lunch‘? Or based on a personal joke between Becker and Fagen who reportedly referred to the alien who utters the line ‘We come in peace‘ in the 1951 film ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still‘ as ‘steely Dan‘?
As in true Dan fashion, neither have been formally confirmed or denied so the mystery remains – but with the advent of ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill‘ it was clear nobody would be doing cool detachment quite like Steely Dan.
STEELY DAN – CAN’T BUY A THRILL (Released November 21 1972):
Do it Again/Dirty Work/Kings/Midnite Cruiser/Only a Fool Would Say That/Reelin In the Years/Fire in the Hole/Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)/Changing of the Guard/Turn That Heartbeat Over Again;
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